Summertime blues

Set sail for a night of great music with a Newburyport BluesCruise

NEWBURYPORT -- This is a traditional old New England seaside harbor town, but that doesn't mean it can't also be a destination to catch blues this summer.

Three weekend sunset Newburyport BluesCruise excursions will take off from Waterfront Park -- two in July that will also include fireworks, and another in August. Each features a different blues combination.

The July 5 New Orleans-themed cruise will feature Henri Smith, a native of the Crescent City who moved to Massachusetts after Hurricane Katrina and reunited with fellow musicians from their native city. His "Friends and Flavours" band includes Grammy-winning saxophonist Aaron Neville; lifelong friend, trumpeter and composer Stanton Davis and percussionist Charles Burchell.

Also performing that night will be saxophonist Amadee Castenell, who has recorded with an impressive list of artists including Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon and Linda Ronstadt.

Three weeks later, on July 26, will be the Yankee Homecoming cruise, with James Montgomery, a Grammy-nominated blues legend who once toured with Aerosmith and Bruce Springsteen, among others.

The cruise will also feature David Hull, whose career started with the Buddy Miles Band, and the BluesCruise All-Star Band, featuring percussionist Sergio Bellotti and guitarist J. Laite.

The Aug. 31 cruise will also include a celebration of the life and legacy of Shirley Lewis, a former Newburyport resident who lost her battle with cervical cancer in May 2013.

Advertisement

"She was a dear close friend of mine," said Laite, who once lived next door to her in Newburyport and who founded the BluesCruise more than two decades ago. Laite, who has performed for more than 30 years across the United States, Europe and Central America, still remembers the time he met her, he said.

"I heard some fantastic blues playing one night, and not being very shy, I marched up to the door and introduced myself," Laite said.

Lewis made enough of a mark in her time in Massachusetts that for the second year, the city of Newburyport and state of Massachusetts have proclaimed a Shirley Lewis Day. The New Jersey native moved to the state in the 1980s after beginning her career in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Aug. 31 cruise will be held in conjunction with the Shirley Lewis Living the Blues Foundation, which Laite said works to heal people through music. That night's event will feature Shor'ty Billups, whose blues career has spanned more than six decades.

Each of the three cruises will benefit the Shirley Lewis Living the Blues Foundation.

Tickets to the Saturday, July 5, cruise are $34 in advance or $38 on the day of the event. The Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, Aug. 31, cruises are $36 in advance or $40 the day of the event. Each three-hour cruise leaves at 7 p.m. from Waterfront Park (except the July 5 cruise, which leaves from Plum Island Point), with a cash bar and snacks available.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.